missing earth clamps in bathroom.new consumer unit fitted.

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Hello all.
I have viewed a property which I am interested in buying.
During a brief tour I noticed no earth clamps,under the basin,under the bath and none attached to the radiator,there is not an electric shower but a mains shaver/light fitment.
The consumer unit was installed last year but I have not seen any paperwork (yet) to confirm is has been registered but the estate agent has got back to me saying that all the circuits are under supervision of rcd's (that means little to me).

SO does the bathroom need all those earth clamps ?

I noticed the gas combi boiler has all its pipes linked with earth clamps and green/yellow cable.

Edit, all the heating/water piper are copper.

Thank you in advance.
 
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...I noticed no earth clamps,under the basin,under the bath and none attached to the radiator,there is not an electric shower but a mains shaver/light fitment. ... The consumer unit was installed last year but I have not seen any paperwork (yet) to confirm is has been registered but the estate agent has got back to me saying that all the circuits are under supervision of rcd's (that means little to me). ... SO does the bathroom need all those earth clamps ?
If all the circuits in the bathroom are protected by an RCD (in the new CU), and if a couple of other conditions are satisfied (which they very probably will be), then current Wiring Regulations do not require 'bonding' (to earth clamps) of pipes, radiators etc. in the room.
I noticed the gas combi boiler has all its pipes linked with earth clamps and green/yellow cable.
That is very common where plumbers have been at work, but none of that is actually required by the Wiring Regulations.

Kind Regards, John
 
supplementary bonding for a bathroom, requires each pipe to be bonded at the point where it enters the bathroom, to every electrical circuit that enters the bathroom (always lighting, an electric shower if there is one, generally no sockets). So you only need to bond the cold pipe once, and the hot pipe once, and the two radiator pipes once each.

If you have lead or iron waste pipes, them too.

Having done that, there is no need and no benefit to having extra clamps under every tap.

The bonding needs to be accessible for inspection and maintenance.

It can also be done where the pipes go through the wall into the bathroom, for example in ad adjacent airing cupboard.

edit
as JohnW2 says, under some circumstances supplementary bonding is not required, but you may not be able to tell if the conditions have been met.
 
...as JohnW2 says, under some circumstances supplementary bonding is not required, but you may not be able to tell if the conditions have been met.
To put this into context for the OP ... it is, indeed, strictly true that no-one other than an electrician with the appropriate test equipment can confirm that the other two requirements for omitting supplementary bonding are satisfied. However, in practice, once one has got RCD protection, those other two conditions will virtually always be satisfied. ... I therefore think that "under some circumstances" may be giving the OP a somewhat understated impression of the true situation.

[as a technical aside ... Indeed, if the other main requirement (adequacy of disconnection times for all final circuits) is not satisfied, then the installation would have much bigger non-compliance problems than just the absence of supplementary bonding!]

Kind Regards, John
 
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Thank you for the replies.

So there are special conditions for no bathroom earthing,please let me know.

All I can add is there is a large green/yellow wire goes from the MK consumer unit to the right side of a large fuse holder.

Edit.... right side of large fuse holder.

Thanks again.
 
a photo of the consumer unit, with the door or flap open, and the service head on the incoming electricity supply would probably show.

if there are more than one consumer unit (showers often have their own), all of them.

There should be thick green & yellow main earth bonds going to the gas water and any other incoming metallic services where they come into the house.
 
The gas meter and water stop cock are at floor level in the same compartment and both have earth clamps,even the copper pipe is very shiny where the clamps are fitted.

All the cables run (neatly in a plastic box) and no cables on the wall surface.

No electric shower installed.

Thank's.
 
Thank you for the replies. So there are special conditions for no bathroom earthing,please let me know.
Yes, as I've said, there are three requirements for omiting the 'supplementary bonding' in a bathroom:
1...That all circuits in the bathroom should have RCD protection.
2...That all circuits in the bathroom satisfy the requirements for adequately rapid disconnection of the supply in the event of an electrical fault within the bathroom - which is a requirement, anyway.
3...That any metal pipes etc. (which are connected to earth) entering the bathroom are adequately connected to the 'main protective bonding' of the installation (the connection between your CU and where water/gas supply pipes enter the property). With metal plumbing, this is virtually inevitable. With plastic plumbing, the pipes dor not need supplementary bonding, anyway.
All I can add is there is a large green/yellow wire goes from the MK consumer unit to the left side of a
That would be the 'main earthing conductor', from the earth provided by your electricity supplier to your electrical installation. As I said above, there also should be G/Y wires going from your CU to any incoming metal water/gas supply pipes.

As has been said, only an electrician could undertake the tests required to confirm that bonding in the bathroom was not required. However, I really don't think you should worry to much - it would not really be sensible to let the presence/absence of bonding in a bathroom influence one's decision about buying a property! If you felt the need to be fully reassured about the electrical installation in any house you were considering buying (even if the installation looked fine, visually), you would have to commission a full inspection and testing (an 'Electrical Installation Condition Report', EICR).

Kind Regards, John
 
Thanks again,i have submitted an offer on the property now :D

:evil: Estate agent has 4 other offers made today :evil:
 
If you have lead or iron waste pipes, them too.
They'll possibly require main protective bonding also.
Indeed so - but that's obviously an entirely different issue. It would be perfectly possibly for metal waste pipes to need main bonding where they entered a bathroom, but for supplementary bonding not to be required in the room.

Kind Regards, John
 
Main protective bonding is carried out where an extraneous conductive part enters the equipotential zone (for example where it enters the premises), not necessarily where it enters the bathroom.
I wouldn't say it is a different issue as it is one of the requirements for omission of supplementary bonding in a bathroom.
 
Main protective bonding is carried out where an extraneous conductive part enters the equipotential zone (for example where it enters the premises), not necessarily where it enters the bathroom.
That's obviously true, but I think you're probably rather splitting hairs :) At least IME, metal waste pipes almost invariably enter the premises into the room (bathroom or kitchen) they 'serve', rather than entering the premises somewhere else and then meandering around the building!

whatever, my point remains that main bonding and supplementary bonding are two totally separate issues!

Kind Regards, John
 
I wouldn't say it is a different issue as it is one of the requirements for omission of supplementary bonding in a bathroom.
You seem to have slipped that in after I replied! We're just talking semantics (whether or not it is a 'different issue'). As you've implied yourself, there is always a requirement for any extraneous-c-p which enters the premises anywhere to be main bonded - regardless of the considerations relating to supplementary bonding in a bathroom. As far as I am concerned, whether or not one calls that a 'different issue' is really neither here nor there :)

Kind Regards, John
 

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